Adding members to the board of directors at the Butler Area Sewer Authority makes sense on several levels, but is no silver bullet for the challenges facing the agency.

In terms of fairness, Center Township, which is a significant part of BASA's service area, should have representation on the board. The same is true of other member municipalities, including East Butler and Summit, Connoquenessing and Oakland townships.

With 50 percent or so of its population served by BASA, Center accounts for about 12 percent of the authority's customers, and growth in that municipality is expected to continue.

More than in years past, BASA has been in the news and a topic of discussion in member municipalities, in large part due to the authority's problems with the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Until recently, BASA's actions were of little interest to most people — as long as the system worked. But in the past two years, a conflict between BASA and the DEP over the authority's failure to meet terms of a previous consent agreement has focused renewed public attention on the sewer authority. The consent agreement between BASAand the DEPunder which the authorityis now operating restricts sewer tap-ins, and thus is an obstacle to economic growth in the municipalities BASA serves, most notably the City of Butler, Butler Township and Center Township.

The recent attention on BASA, much of it probably unwanted, has nonetheless focused on perceived past failures to deal with system overflows that occur during times of heavy rainfall, and slowness to make remedial repairs to reduce or eliminate infiltration of stormwater — and even stream water — from artificially pushing the system beyond its capacity.

Nothing can be done about BASA's past decisions or actions, and some of its problems are beyond the authority's control, such as old, even undocumented pipes inherited as the system was created. But the current consent agreement and concerns over tap-in restrictions choking economic development have moved BASAfrom a low-profile agency to one now the object of much public attention.

Increasing the size of the BASA board is appropriate in terms of fair representation, but it also is an acknowledgment that the board should change as times change.

The challenges facing BASA are greater today than perhaps at any time since its creation in the 1960s, when it was created by the city and Butler Township. The process of inspecting, relining and repairing lines is ongoing, and construction of a new treatment plant also is being considered.

This week, Butler Township went on record as supporting a larger BASAboard. Earlier, Center Township had asked Butler Township and the city to support adding to the BASAboard a representative from Center as well as another, at-large board member, to represent East Butler and Summit, Connoquenessing and Oakland townships.

City officials support enlarging BASA's board, though with reservations over dilution of the city's influence on the board. Mayor Maggie Stock supports Center's representation as well as the at-large member, who she believes also should be responsible for promoting broad economic development interests.

Enlarging the BASA board appears to have no downside and could provide additional expertise and energy to a board facing significant challenges now and over the next several years. New members can be a plus for the BASAboard, but they will not eliminate the tough choices facing BASA, its customers and municipal partners.

Though it is not a miracle fix for BASA's woes, the board should be expanded.